One Mistake: Manning's Preparation, Skill Fail To Bring Second Title

ETHAN J. SKOLNICK COMMENTARY

February 8, 2010|ETHAN J. SKOLNICK COMMENTARY

MIAMI GARDENS — The Saints' defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, promised "remember me" shots, and there was one, just one. It's one that Peyton Manning will never forget. It happened not as the Colts quarterback stood in the pocket, but after his pocket had been picked clean.

He was supposed to point the way to another Super Bowl championship for Indianapolis, his second in four years, but now someone named Tracy Porter was pointing at him, impolitely but appropriately. Now he was just in the way, a would-be tackler, an obstacle requiring elimination as Porter raced to the Colts' end zone with the ball, the upset, the title. Now he was as helpless as he so often makes defenders feel, flattened by Will Smith at the 46-yard line, raising his head just in time see Porter raise his hands.

"He made a good break on it," Manning said of a pass he intended for Reggie Wayne, on a third-and-5 from the Saints' 31 with 3:24 remaining. "He just made a heck of a play."

That play turned a potential game-tying drive into a 31-17 deficit, one from which the Colts could not recover. That play meant there would be no 46th fourth-quarter comeback of Manning's career, after a season in which he turned that trick seven times. That play meant the quarterback who had won 80 percent of his starts since 2002 would not win the night, and would see his playoff record drop to 9-9.

That play was the product of another player's preparation, a great irony considering that Manning is generally recognized as the most prepared athlete alive.

"It was great communication between me and Malcolm [Jenkins]," Porter said. "I just jumped the route and it came right into my hands."

That play was an anomaly on a night when Manning played brilliantly, at least when the Saints weren't keeping the ball out of his hands. They did so in the second quarter, when he threw only twice, and not at all on the final possession before halftime. The Colts got the ball at their own 1 with 1:49 left, which is when most teams play conservatively. Most teams but the Colts. Not the team with Manning, the quick-strike specialist from any spot on the field.

"We expected to get that," Manning said. "Had we gotten it, we would have gone into our two-minute offense. The execution of that play was disappointing."

That left the Colts with just a 10-6 lead at the half.

That was dangerous.

Because, for a rare occasion, the quarterback on the other side was equally as capable of excellence. This wasn't a gimpy Joe Flacco or a green Mark Sanchez. This was a game Drew Brees. This was someone trying to build on his own legacy.

And on this night, Brees was simply better. He was better even as Manning was 31 of 45 for 333 yards, better numbers that he produced in winning Super Bowl XLI against Chicago. He was better even as Manning made some of the most sublime throws you'll ever see, including a 26-yarder to Dallas Clark and a 40-yarder to Austin Collie, neither of which could have been placed any better if Manning had sprinted over and handed them off.